Police dogs break training to track down burglary suspect for real

Two Cook County sheriff’s police dogs interrupted a training exercise this afternoon to help track down a burglary suspect in the southwest suburbs, authorities said.

Manhattan police were notified around 12:30 p.m. of a residential burglary in the 27400 block of South Route 52 and chased the suspects as they fled in their vehicle north on Route 53, said public information officer Brett Burkhalter.

Meanwhile, canines Melanie and Max were training about 10 miles northwest in Joliet when police received a call that bloodhounds were needed to assist with the chase, according to Frank Bilecki, spokesman for the Cook County sheriff’s office.

The suspects crashed their car near Interstate 80 and South Larkin Avenue and attempted to flee on foot, Bilecki said. A woman was arrested shortly after the crash.

Melanie and Max started with the scent from the car and followed it more than a mile through a wooded area into a nearby neighborhood in Joliet. The scent was going weak, Bilecki said, but officers found a hat left behind in a field to help Melanie continue the search.

Melanie followed the scent to a house which she started circling, an indication that the scent ended or a person was inside, Bilecki said. The door to the home was open, and a different dog went inside and found a male suspect hiding in the basement’s crawl space, officials said.